This won’t be a very long tour because I don’t have a very big kitchen 😉
When we first started looking at toy haulers, I thought that I needed one with either an island or a bar with cupboards that comes out of the wall so that the kitchen is U-shaped. I really wanted the extra cupboards and counter top space that this style offered. In the long run, I am so glad that we didn’t go with that design; it would have been a wreck for us.
If I were the only one in the kitchen, that would have been the best layout, but I seldom am. The 2 older girls and I work together (as much as we can) in fixing meals, and there would have been no room to move around in that small space.
With our L-shaped kitchen, there is more room for multiple people to move around one another.
I have a love/hate relationship with our kitchen. I love that it takes 5 minutes to clean. The part that I dislike?…I am a ‘whim’ cooker. I enjoy cooking as long as I have the freedom to cook whatever sounds good at the time. In the sticks & bricks, with a full pantry, 3 chest freezers, and 2 full-sized fridges, I was able to keep ample grocery stock on hand that allowed me to do that – all the time. In the RV, I have a few small cupboards, limited pots & pans, a very small oven, and about 8 sq. ft. of counter space. Cooking anything, at least enough of it for 12 or 13 people, can be a challenge. Cooking some of our favorites is down right impossible. or feels like it anyway.
I introduce, our oven…
all 14″ x 14.5″ of it.
(and no, don’t mind our dirty oven mitts – because yes, we really do live in our rv, yes, we really do use our oven, and yes, we do cook for a minimum of 10 people 3 times a day. 😉 )
We haven’t made cinnamon rolls since moving into the rv.
or a big beef roast surrounded by potatoes and carrots.
or baked potatoes. And we LOVE baked potatoes – you know, with bacon, chives, cheese, sour cream, ranch, chili – whatever you want on them… 20-24 big bakers are in no way going to fit in a 14×14.5″ space.
and a batch of cookies takes all afternoon, cooking them on a small baking sheet 9 at a time. tho we have gotten to the point where we make homemade cookies instead of just from boughten dough.
Because space is at a premium, when the oven is not being used, I store the extra baking dishes in it (like in the pic).
The 3 burner propane stovetop is handy – I had a propane Jenn-Aire in the house, so am glad that I still have this type of stovetop. It isn’t really made for the size of pots that we use – if we are using 2 at the same time, they tend to hang over, but it works – haven’t tried 3 at a time yet! LOL! We installed a cover on the stovetop so that when it is not in use, we can fold the cover over the burners and use the top of the stove for additional countertop.
Now, I’m not really complaining, I do love that it takes us 5 minutes to clean up the kitchen! (tho a baked potato is sounding really good right now! LOL!) and we are more likely to clean as we go instead of finding ourselves with a kitchen full of dirty dishes at the end of a meal.
I do like my little kitchen, it just took some time to get used to doing things a bit differently than when we were in the s&b. Big meals take a bit of planning, but most stuff is doable.
I have had to get used to having limited groceries on hand due to space constraints, which means that I do not always have the right ingredients on hand to make what sounds good. I have had to get used to (still working on this one) shopping with a list – not an exhaustive list, but a list of ingredient to make specific dishes.
We purchased melamine plates and bowls. I would have loved to replace my Corelle dishes, which I had for 18 years, with more Corelle, but the weight of a setting for 15+ was excessive. We do have a couple of Corrolle bowls and plates that we keep to microwave on (I don’t like micros as it is, and won’t do plastic in it). We can only use the microwave if we are plugged in or are running the generator.
We still have a few Tupperware modular mates that we keep staples in, but they are smaller than what we had in the house, and much fewer in #. We do keep paper plates and bowls on hand, but when we are parked, we seldom use them.
Vaughn and the boys installed shelves in the kitchen cupboards for me, which greatly increased how much stuff we could stack in there.
Above the cupboards is an open space of a few feet up to the ceiling. At first it was wasted space, but it didn’t take long before we were utilizing it for light-weight items like chips, cereal, and bread.When we are traveling, anytime that I go to the store, I need to check the fridge and freezer to verify how much space I have to fill up. I am an optimist. and always overbuy 
We have a chest freezer in the back of our toy hauler ‘garage’, that makes it much easier to keep good meats and frozen fruits and veggies on hand. We also have a few kitchen toys, that we have to keep in the cupboards above our dinette because they don’t fit in ‘the kitchen’ area, that are indispensable when cooking in small quarters for a family:
*Our Vitamix Blender
*Stockpot – maybe it’s just that we have 12 kids, but I could not be without a stockpot. If you are going to go to the work of making TDF Louisiana gumbo, then you should go all out and make it 3 gallons at a time; after all, it is even better the next day! (I left my BIG stockpot behind) Also good for steaming clams that you dug off the Oregon coast, cooking corn on the cob picked in the midwest, and doing a southern boil to spread out on the campground picnic table when visiting the south.
*My newest I-Can’t-Believe-I-Survived-Without-It toy is my Instant Pot 7-in-1 Programmable Pressure Cooker (Amazon is best price I’ve found). Seriously love this thing – it is a pressure cooker, crock pot, rice cooker, steamer, and yogurt maker that also sautes and doubles as a warmer. In one pot. There are tons of reasons that I love my Instant Pot; a few are because it 
Also, next to the kitchen, built into the bottom step, is a vacuum system. Love/hate here too! I love that having a vacuum built in like that doesn’t take any floorspace, but it also doesn’t work nearly as well as a regular vacuum. Vaughn researched built-ins, bought the best one last summer, and installed it for me. It works great for edging and quick cleanups, but we have a ‘real’ vacuum that we love and can keep up with our family, too (Oreck Magnesium
I think that RVing longterm is a choice of compromises and trade-offs. I have had to make some ‘sacrifices’ like the size and convenience of my kitchen, but they are more than made up for in the closeness our family enjoys being able to travel together, and do unique things like camphost at the lake all summer. And while living in an RV is definitely not for everyone, I can confidently say that it is for us! Even if it does mean no baked potatoes for awhile 😛
If you are interested in seeing more of our RV, and how we organize it and have modded it to fit our larger than average family, you can ‘tour our home’ here.
I read your post with interest as we ahve just bought a small bus to convert into a Motorhome. At this stage my hubby wants the bathroom to be big and so far it is going to be bigger than my kitchen. I keep telling him that he only uses the bathroom for maybe 15 minutes per day tops. Oh well we are still planning. Soon we will be posting the various stages of the conversion. Then we’ll see how it all turns out – and there’s only the 2 of us!!!
Great kitchen post:) Thanks for the heads up about island or u shape. I agree, a l-shaped kitchen is something I’d love:).
Hi.
Thanks so much for this post. My hubby and I are considering doing something similar, though we only have 3 kids!
I just wanted to say, have you done baked potatoes over the fire and cinnamon rolls in orange peals? They are both so yummy!
Well live in our rv. Two items I can’t live (cook) without are my counter top oven and my giant crockpot(for baking potatoes) worth finding the room to store!
Next time you’re down this way we will have baked potatoes with all the toppings!
Hello! Your article has been extremely helpful! I am only THREE DAYS! into RV living. Still getting adjusted. One thing we did do, if it’s a nice day and you can have little fires (or have a little charcoal grill like we do), wrap potatoes in foil and throw them on the grill or fire! Best thing about camping with my dad growing up, we always had awesome meals! That has absolutely rolled over into adult life.
Cheers from Alaska
Hi. I think you are amazing doing this with so many people. When I was a teenager, my father took our family of six(total) with him as he worked and we lived in a Georgeboy Criuse Air for two years, until my brother and I went off to boarding school. I loved it.
You talk about no baked potatoes. Do you ever stay at campgrounds? Use their grill. Wrap each baker in aluminum foil, stick them in the fire for a while and enjoy. We used to do this in the Andes mountains when we went on fishing trips. We baked our catch that way too. Living with baked potatoes is torcher. LOL
Sorry, I ment living Without baked potatoes is torcher.